I attended the Dio show in Cedar Rapids last night. This will probably go down as one of the finest vocal performances I have ever seen in my life. The man is an absolutely impressive and powerful performer. The quality of his voice after all these years of singing is simply amazing. Dio's stage presence showed how much he enjoys performing and being able to give his performance to the fans. He genuinely enjoys singing and it shows. Not to mention that he is surrounded by incredible musicians (it is so nice to see Craig Goldy back).

With five songs off the Holy Diver album the timelessness of the material really showed how remarkable his first solo venture was. Contrasting that with the entire Magica album brought the evening full circle.

Set list in order:

Sunset Superman

Invisible (Drum Solo)

Stand Up And Shout

Don't Talk To Strangers

All The Fools Sailed Away

Magica (entire album minus reprises)

Holy Diver

Heaven And Hell

Rainbow In The Dark

The Last In Line

Man On The Silver Mountain/Long Live Rock N Roll

Neon Knights

Opening bands:
Armored Saint: Had the first slot and got kind of a raw deal on the sound. Muddy low end really made it hard to distinguish the bass. Notable songs: Tribal Dance, Reign Of Fire, March Of The Saint

Lynch Mob: Guitar wizard George is back on the scene and sounding very good. All of the hits off the first two albums were performed. A new one called Waterfall also showed up. Only complaint, Lynch soloed in a couple of songs on the back of the stage facing the drummer. Hard to see his work like that.

Finally, the fans... there were some crazy people out but also some great ones... one guy I was talking to even gave me a Simon Wright drumstick because "he only collects picks".

All in all, a fabulous night. I hope that anyone out there with the chance to see Dio doesn't pass it up.